I wonder why John McCain doesn't come right out and say he sold his soul.  We miss the straight talk.  He should run with the explicit admission that he plans to pardon Jack Abramoff, and make the former lobbyist Secretary of the Treasury.  Ralph Reed, McCain's newest best buddy, it should be admitted, will get a big role in McCain's administration.  McCain should tell us that Exxon will replace our current EPA.  He should regale us with tales of how his administration will be one big, happy oil company and lobbyist family, like his campaign.  That would be straight talk.

More, yo.

There was a very important diary posted here last night through much of today on the death of Hiu Lui Ng.  It was by Gorette, and if you missed it: http://www.dailykos.com/...

You should also check out the original New York Times article on this incident, which is one of the most horrific stories of human cruelty I've heard in a long time: http://www.nytimes.com/...

Keith Olbermann addressed this awhile ago on his show, and his words--dripping with anger--summed up how I felt about this last night.  Here is my original comment in that diary: http://www.dailykos.com/...

Here is another immigration nightmare. This is not the America I know.
My friend's husband will be deported in 90 days.  Her husband was born in Thailand and adopted as a child.  Somehow the adoption paperwork was never finalized, his parents died, and he did not even know he was not a citizen.  He had a felony conviction as a teenager, served time, then turned his life around; married, had kids, worked for Texas Instruments for 16 years.  When he applied for a college loan, he was found to not be a citizen, was arrested by ICE and put in jail (February 2007).  

Crocodile tears and calls for "discipline" from ICE chief Julie L. Myers:

The head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will ask Congress to consider taking disciplinary action against one of its members for a statement he made equating ICE agents with the Gestapo, a senior agency official said Wednesday.

Luis V. Gutierrez , vice chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee that handles immigration, has called for a moratorium on ICE enforcement actions until Congress passes a comprehensive overhaul, something it has failed to do in each of the past two years.

In a column written for Politico, Gutierrez, D-Ill., commenting on recent ICE arrests of illegal immigrants in Iowa, said: "You know who is in charge now? The Gestapo agents at Homeland Security. They are in charge."

A senior ICE official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Julie L. Myers, the assistant secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was "absolutely appalled and deeply angered" by the statement. The official said Myers would send a letter to senior members of Congress asking that disciplinary action be taken against Gutierrez’ for his remarks.

Oh noes!!! Julie Myers is "appalled and deeply angered."

Glass houses, my friend:

Democratic lawmakers yesterday accused Julie L. Myers, an assistant secretary of homeland security, of misleading Congress after photographs emerged of Myers at an office Halloween party honoring a white employee dressed as an escaped prisoner with dreadlocks and makeup that made him look African American or Hispanic.

Myers, whose Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency runs the nation's 32,000-bed immigration detention system, was on a three-judge panel that gave a "most original costume" award to the worker at an ICE charity event Oct. 31. Myers subsequently apologized, saying the costume could leave "a negative impression" of ICE's respect for people whom it detains and explained that she learned only the next day that the man was wearing makeup.

My advice? Stick to disciplining your own branch. You've got no business looking outside your own agency -- and some would say none outside your own behavior, quite frankly -- much less outside your own branch. The executive has done quite enough meddling in the legislature, thank you very much. The last thing we need is petty bureaucrats with their own ethical rap sheets whining to Congress about which legislators do and don't need disciplining for huwting your widdle feewings. I can appreciate a boss's desire to stand up for the integrity of her team, but seriously, were you really thinking this was a task you were cut out for?

Do your own lifting, Myers. I know that as an Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security, you have no authority to punish a Member of Congress yourself for his remarks, so you need to call on Congress to do it for you.

But then again... as an Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security, you have no authority to punish a Member of Congress for his remarks.

That's actually a feature, not a bug.

Keep your nose in your own branch, please. You don't have oversight authority here. And maybe keep your thoughts about who needs to be disciplined for appalling behavior a little closer to home.

John McCain has become so enamored of the surge in Iraq, which he has trademarked and owns exclusive rights to (and which did not lead to the Anbar Awakening), that it is now his answer to everything.  Last week he proposed a surge in our cities to keep the population under control.  He honestly believes that America needs armed government thugs on every corner.  Now he proposes an "Economic Surge."  John McCain says, "We'll fight those pesky market indicators with our own, better equipped market indicators.  We will bring war to every aspect of life in the United States.  We're going to have a Straight Surge to fight the Gays.  We're going to have a Religious Surge to fight every person who believes in the wrong things.  By God, we will definitely have a White Surge to combat the uppity Illinois Senator.  And thanks to Viagra, I will have a surge in my pants too."  (paraphrased)

Much more after the flip

On March 27th, 2007 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested an undocumented man picking up his 4th-grade daughter from Chaparral Elementary School in Santa Fe.  According to The Albuquerque Tribune, "an anonymous source had told ICE that the suspect had engaged in sexual conduct with a minor."  Within two days he was exonerated...and deported.

When I was a student at Oberlin College, Casa Fiesta was one of the most popular hangout spots in that small, Midwestern town.  Best known for their margaritas, fajitas, and endless supply of free tortilla chips, the Mexican restaurant was always packed with students, townspeople, and professors. It was located just kitty-corner from the house where I lived, so close that sometimes I would always catch a whiff of frying garlic and onions when I walked to and from class.

But that may all have changed at about 11 am this Wednesday, when Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officials made a series of arrests at the Casa Fiesta in Oberlin and in Casa Fiestas in Ashland, Fremont, Norwalk, Oregon, Sandusky, Vermillion and Youngstown, Ohio.  Overall, 58 immigrants were arrested, although three women were eventually let go. However, they will still be required to appear before a federal immigration judge.  According to ICE spokesman Greg Palmore, the immigrants -- all Mexican citizens -- are likely to be deported as soon as possible.  

UPDATE #3:  So it has been a crazy 24 hours.  But what is most outragous is that Col. Doherty of the State Police actually said yesterday:

Doherty said state police will not be conducting immigration raids or sweeps. But he added, "I’ve taken a position that this is not a sanctuary state, and if we find someone who is here illegally or unlawfully, we will notify ICE."

Yet, within minutes, that is exactly what happened.  

I don't know how to write about this, but I'm going to try anyway.

I've been following the discussion on immigration for over a year, and there are a lot of complexities to it and a lot of back story.

But this story is so terrible that I don't think you need to know all the details of the law or intricacies of how we got to where we are in the United States as far as our broken immigration policies are concerned.

This story is about an essay written by Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas, a certified Spanish interpreter for federal courts, who was present at the ICE raid in Postville, Iowa.

I found out about this essay in a circuitous way.  I first read the entire essay at The Sanctuary where Duke had it up in its entirety.  Immediately after reading it, I rebooted the essay and found he had removed it ... turns out Dr. Camayd-Freixas had asked him to refrain from posting it after finding that the New York Times was going to do a front page story on it.  Duke and other pro-migrant bloggers complied.  Now that the story has been published, the essay is once again up at The Sanctuary.

It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.

The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic – and worrying – examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer.

The Independent

Yup! There's ice up there. And as a political junkie I'm psyched!

Why? Why should this news make a political junkie happy? Why is this news for a political blog? Because science best describes reality, and as our esteemed colleague Mr. Colbert said, "Reality has a liberal bias."

And when reality has a problem, we liberals have a problem. A triumph for science is a triumph for liberals.

Let's get on the Reality Express and go for a jump!

What do we know?

We know that oil is a limited resource.  

We know that demand for it is climbing because of China and India.  

We know that we went into Iraq for oil and that supplies there have been threatened by fighting.

We know that Bush is an oil man.

We know that Exxon is now making the largest profits in the history of the world - billions.

We know that because there is the so-called oil "crisis," some Congress people want a windfall profits tax.

We know that because there is the so-called oil "crisis," Exxon and the other oil companies are pushing for  a tax BREAK so they will have some "incentive" to explore for oil.

We know that because of the so-called oil "crisis," the president and Exxon and others are pushing to lift bans  on drilling in ANWAR and off the coast of the US.

We know that because of the so-called oil "crisis," both the coal and nuclear industries, each known for large environmental threats, are suddenly saying "We're BAAAACK."

Could the bubble in the energy futures market be ready to pop? I doubt it. But a little extra oversight can't hurt. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that ICE Futures Europe, the unregulated electronic futures exchange that speculators have been using to bet on and profit from crude oil price increases, has agreed to regulatory oversight.

The U.S. commodity futures regulator Tuesday said ICE Futures Europe has agreed to make permanent position and accountability limits for some of its U.S.-traded crude contracts, subjecting itself to the same regulatory oversight as its New York based counterpart.

Following intense scrutiny and censure by Congress over skyrocketing oil prices, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission also said it would require daily large trader reports, and similar position and accountability limits from other foreign exchanges.

More after the jump...

A few days ago, I wrote about Arthur Mkoyan, the high school valedictorian in California who is scheduled to be deported to Armenia after he graduates.  Although Arthur dreams of studying medicine at a university in California, ICE officials plan to send him and his parents back to Armenia because they are currently undocumented.  The family has been seeking legal asylum in the U.S. for more than 10 years.

CNN has a good article with more details on the situation:

If you think that the immigration raid and subsequent unprecedented filing of felony charges and prison for undocumented aliens simply reflects a new hard line against illegal aliens, I have a different hypothesis for you.

I have a hypothesis that suggests an entirely different scenario and motivation.  It may be much darker than we think.  I like this hypothesis, because I have found that with the Bush administration, everything is motivated by darker forces and more reckless and cynical goals than I could have ever imagined.  To me, the Bush administration has been an education, a true enlightenment.  Everything they do is grounded in objectives that are baser, more criminal, and more evil than I could have ever previously imagined.  On a daily basis, the Bush administration has provided Watergate-type revelations, without flinching, without blinking, and in such a brazen and morally bankrupt manner that my eyes widened in astonishment.

Consider this scenario after the fold.

Over at Standing Firm you can read the terrible story of how our federal government is dealing with the problems of immigration -- by coming into small towns and raiding them, tearing families apart, and terrorizing an entire community.

On Monday, May 12, federal immigration authorities raided the Agriprocessors, Inc. meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa. This massive raid led to the arrest of more than 300 workers and quickly threw this small town of less than 3,000 people into chaos.

Throughout the last week family members have been desperate to get information about their loved ones, children are staying away from school for fear of leaving their homes, attorneys have been attempting with limited success to gain access to workers being detained by federal authorities, and the entire town faces an uncertain future. Fears are growing that the detained workers will soon be shipped across the country to be prepared for deportation without being able to speak with attorneys or family members.

At this point, in the fading months of the Bush's reign, I've cynically become accustomed to one saddening report after another about the mismanagement and malfeasance running through much of our government. However, coming across the Washington Post's four-day series, Careless Detention reignited my anger and indignation at the direction our country has taken over the past eight years. Specifically, I'm disgusted by today's story about alien detainees being drugged for deportation with the aid of doctors and nurses from the Division of Immigration Health Services. This story cuts particularly close to home as I've just attained my MD, and I will be working for the federal government after I finish residency.

After the jump, I'll get into specifics and discuss why I find this article's revelations so troubling in light of Abu Ghraib, our country's current torture policy, warrantless wiretapping, and other unchecked governmental power.

On the surface the News reports read like any other Immigration Raid. As Drudge reported:

"Federal officials say a raid at a northeastern Iowa meat processing plant this week was the largest in US History. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say 390 people have been arrested on immigration charges after Monday's raid at Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville. The facility is the world's largest kosher meatpacking plant. The raid was aimed at seeking evidence of identity theft, stolen Social Security numbers and people who are in the country illegally. Fifty-six of those arrested have been released on humanitarian grounds; many of them have to take care of children. Others arrested in the raid at are being held in county jails and at a converted fairgrounds."

But peel back the onion and a tale of one of the most heinous employers in US History is revealed. Yet, of all the arrests, no arrests were conducted in the Employer ranks. Let´s investigate.